Many devices operated by push buttons are used in low light, such as that available to home users during evening hours. Many such commercially available devices are not easily readable under subdued lighting or illumination, like that light emitted by a television screen. To read such devices under low light, one must usually turn on a light or take the device to adequate lighting to read the device.
Illumination added directly to such push-button devices typically involves an incandescent lamp. Incandescent illumination is often overdone or under-done. Further, unevenness in the area of illumination of the device may be harsh to the eye and distracting when the use of the device is merely ancillary to other activities. In situations in which safety and security are primary, turning on an incandescent lamp may expose the user to danger, and may result in a momentary loss of night vision. Exposing the controls in harsh, uneven light makes the use of the remote control device more difficult for the elderly or the visually impaired.
Thus, there remains a need for an apparatus and a method for illuminating such push-button devices that is not under or over done, is not harsh or uneven in illumination for the user or others in the vicinity, and is not distracting to the main activity for which the push-button controller is being used. Such a method of illumination should not unduly expose the user to harm by drawing attention to the use of the device, should not cause a momentary loss of night vision, or make the device more difficult to use. It should allow the user to turn on the light only momentarily. Also, the process of illuminating the device should not cause a change in the normal pattern of using the device, such as by requiring different fingering to turn on other functions.